Brian P. McCann will be appointed as Chief Sales & Marketing
Officer, and will assume responsibility for global sales, marketing
and product marketing efforts. Brian P. McCann was formerly President
of ADVA Optical Networking Inc., USA, and responsible for all sales
and marketing activities in the North American market since 1996.
Brian L. Protiva will retain his title of Chief Strategy Officer and
be responsible for strategy and research and development. Andreas G.
Rutsch will retain his title of Chief Financial Officer and
responsibilities for corporate finance/M&A, investor relations,
personnel and legal affairs. Stephan Offermanns will also retain his
title of Chief Operating Officer and responsibilities for production,
logistics, quality and IT. Claus-Georg Müller, formerly Chief
Technology Officer, will become a member of ADVA's Supervisory Board
upon shareholder approval at the annual shareholders' meeting on May
24, 2000.

Brian L. Protiva said, "The change in leadership and
responsibilities at ADVA marks a decisive strategic move towards the
important North American optical networking market. Brian McCann has
played a vital role in driving our North American business and will
be able to draw on his exemplary leadership skills to focus on the
global markets. My goals will be to support our shift in technology
strategy from being a wholly enterprise-focused company toward
developing solutions with a service-provider focus. Claus will
continue to be involved in ADVA as a member of our Supervisory Board
and provide strategic advice. The corporate officers fully support
his decision and look forward to continuing our business
relationship."

Strategic Investment in OptXCon, Inc. ADVA also announced a
strategic investment in OptXCon, Inc., a U.S.-based start-up focusing
on optical cross-connect solutions for Metropolitan Area Networks and
Enterprise Networks. OptXCon, Inc. has been founded by the former
Chief Operating Officer of Canoga Perkins, Donald P. Bouchard. ADVA
will own 49% of the business and provide shareholder loans as working
capital to the start-up over a period of two years, at which point it
holds an exclusive option to purchase the business.

About ADVA Optical Networking ADVA Optical Networking is a global
leader in optical networking. Since its foundation in 1994, ADVA has
specialized in the design, development and delivery of cost-effective
optical networking solutions. Its products are implemented in both
private and public networks, including Data Centers, Storage Area
Networks (SAN), and Metropolitan Area Networks (MAN) for fiber-based
data services to the enterprise. Products and services are
distributed via a global network of strategic business partners. The
company currently has an installed base of more than 200 service
providers and private enterprise customers. ADVA is headquartered in
Munich, Germany, with a production and R&D facility in Meiningen and
sales offices in Bristol, United Kingdom; Paris, France; Ramsey, New
Jersey, USA; and Tokyo, Japan. Visit www.advaoptical.com for more
information about ADVA Optical Networking.

The statements contained in this press release that are not purely
historical are forward-looking statements. Such forward- looking
statements include, but are not limited to, the statements regarding
investments in OptXCon, Inc. Such forward- looking statements involve
risks that could cause actual results to differ significantly from
anticipated results. Risks that could cause actual results to differ
significantly from such forward-looking statements include, but are
not limited to, those contained in ADVA's 1999 annual report.